Cortez Masto, Senate Democrats Demand Answers on EPA Surveillance of Medication Abortion Drugs in Drinking Water

Las Vegas, Nev. – U.S. Senator Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.) joined a letter led by U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-Wash.) urging U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Lee Zeldin to remove mifepristone and misoprostol from a list of contaminants targeted for surveillance in drinking water in a study that the agency announced in September. Cortez Masto was one of the first Senators to raise the alarm about the EPA study. Zeldin previously told the Senate Appropriations Committee that he was “not aware” of any efforts to detect medication abortion drugs in water. The surveillance study comes after a pressure campaign by anti-abortion groups who have urged the EPA to retool environmental protection laws to monitor and ultimately restrict abortion medications that are safe for humans and the environment. “We write to express our serious concerns with the recent announcement that the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) plans to take up a surveillance study to track the presence of the medication abortion drugs mifepristone and misoprostol in drinking water,” the Senators began. “This action is a stark departure from past EPA practice and serves to further this administration’s attacks on reproductive health care and distracts from your agency’s critical role protecting Americans from known chemical pollutants in our water systems.” The Senators note that mifepristone and misoprostol have been deemed safe for patients by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for over 25 years and reaffirmed as safe for the environment as recently as 2025. “While there is no scientific evidence that would support mifepristone and misoprostol as candidates for surveillance by the EPA, there has been a targeted political pressure campaign by anti-abortion activists to urge the agency to use the Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA) and other environmental authorities to surveil and regulate medication abortion drugs,” they wrote. The Senators called out Zeldin for stating that he had no knowledge of efforts to target mifepristone and misoprostol in drinking water when the EPA had engaged in conversations with radical anti-abortion groups and encouraged them to pressure the agency to regulate abortion medication. “It is deeply alarming that this kind of radical, anti-science campaign might have an audience at the EPA,” they continued. “This study is a departure from the EPA’s historic role in protecting our water and air from actual threats to human health and the environment. Instead, this study opens the door to new attacks on safe and accessible reproductive health care, undermining the safety and privacy of patients around the country.” The lawmakers wrote that the EPA’s responsibility is to regulate contaminants that harm human health and the environment, not drugs that are well-documented to be safe and effective but disrupt Republican efforts to control women’s bodies. “Taxpayers fund EPA to protect their health and the environment, not to advance a political campaign against women’s health care,” they concluded. In addition to Senators Cortez Masto and Murray, the letter was joined by the entire Senate Democratic caucus. The full text of the letter is available here . Senator Cortez Masto is a fierce advocate for women’s reproductive rights. Last November, she sent a letter to Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and former FDA Commissioner Marty Makary expressing alarm over the Trump administration’s plans to conduct “its own review of the evidence” on the safety and effectiveness of mifepristone. Cortez Masto is leading legislation to protect the right of women to cross state lines to seek abortion care, to repeal the Comstock Act , and to expand health insurance coverage of birth control throughout the country. She voted against the confirmation of Secretary Kennedy in part because of his inability to answer questions regarding women’s health care rights. ###